


The last man standing

by shankwheel



Category: Saw (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, He struggles with it, Hurt/Comfort, In a way, M/M, Mild Gore, Rigg survives his test and is successfully recruited as a new apprentice, SAW III's events still happen so John & Amanda are dead and he's stuck with Hoffman lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:06:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25729408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shankwheel/pseuds/shankwheel
Summary: "It's in our nature to save them. It's what we do."He claimed to be Jigsaw’s first apprentice, targeted for a game after he took revenge on Seth Baxter. He spoke bitterly of the device Jigsaw had forced him into - a primitive test, he said, a souped up game of Russian roulette - and much like Rigg, he had no choice but to accept John’s philosophy.
Relationships: Mark Hoffman/Daniel Rigg
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	1. Save As I Save

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this really late at night, and I've tweaked it a little since then. Not sure where I wanna go with it or how shippy it's gonna get - but it'll probably be updated again soon!

“You’re kidding me!” 

Hoffman threw a glare over his shoulder as the door closed, leaving Strahm alone in a room full of bodies with a tape just for him. 

They needed to be quiet. Hoffman gestured for Rigg to follow him out of the corridor. Although Strahm’s test was meant to be unwinnable, it was still too early to let their guard down. He was one of the few cops Hoffman had met that actually had a damn clue, after all.

“You’re going to leave him in there?” Rigg asked in disbelief. Strahm was a good agent, and he could only be faulted for his blunt attitude - Surely he didn’t deserve to be tested for that.

“He made the same mistakes you did. He’s too eager, and he got too close.”

“So what, you’re testing people for being good cops now?” Rigg practically hissed, despite still following Hoffman through the lair.

“There’s a difference between being a good cop,” Hoffman unlocked a door, “And being an idiot. He didn’t have to go into that room.”

Rigg kept his mouth shut and ignored the indirect insult. He watched Hoffman disappear into the room before him, listened to him speak softly to whoever was in there with him, and eventually he emerged with a young girl of about eight. She looked terrified. She was in shock. Rigg opened his mouth to exclaim, but shut it once again when he saw the look Hoffman was giving him.

“She says her name is Corbett.” Said Hoffman, slowly, as if he was explaining something to Rigg. He was carrying her in his arms. What a strange sight.

Hoffman must have been the one who locked her in there -- or maybe it was Amanda Young. Either way, Mark knew about it. And Rigg knew that Mark knew. He tried his best to push down the guilt he was feeling, and gave Corbett a reassuring smile. 

He realised that seeing Mark hold her like that made the whole thing more unsettling, so he offered to take her from him. 

Rigg was better with children anyway, so Mark simply shrugged and handed her over.

As they continued through the maze of dank rooms, it was clear that Hoffman would take the lead from now on - Rigg, in his own state of shock and disbelief, allowed it. He didn’t want to face justifying his actions to himself. Instead, he focused on comforting the scared child in his arms; The fact that the three of them were the only ones leaving the building let him know that her family were already gone. 

Flashing lights and stern voices would greet them soon.


	2. See What I See

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rigg and Hoffman have a chat before the Fatal Five Trial, and it gets a little awkward. Rigg still isn't sure what he's doing, or who he's dealing with.

After surviving a test together, nobody questioned Rigg’s close relationship with Hoffman. They had been colleagues for years, even partners, and Hoffman had always had his back when he needed him. Not to mention that they were two of three survivors of an abhorrent Jigsaw trap; They were bound to be close after such a thing.

Rigg and Hoffman themselves were the only ones who knew how truly strange their relationship was: After the death of John Kramer and Amanda Young, they were almost solely responsible for the testing of John’s remaining subjects.  
Hoffman had explained that there had been other apprentices besides himself and Amanda. However, there was apparently no need for Dr. Gordon anymore, and John’s widow was a liability. He believed they could do it alone.

Rigg had little choice but to trust Mark’s word on that. He truly did want to save people - It was all he wanted since Matthews’ disappearance - and he was trying to stay faithful to Jigsaw’s method, as difficult a thing as it was for him to reconcile with his conscience.

Mark didn’t appear to have the same problem.

Daniel listened to his story. He claimed to be Jigsaw’s first apprentice, targeted for a game after he took revenge on Seth Baxter. He spoke bitterly of the device Jigsaw had forced him into - a primitive test, he said, a souped up game of Russian roulette - and much like Rigg, he had no choice but to accept John’s philosophy.

It was odd to finally hear all of this about a man he thought he had known. Sure, everyone could see that Mark had changed after the loss of his sister, and who wouldn’t? It was brutal. But the drinking, the _murder_...

Hoffman shook his head as if to disturb Daniel’s train of thought, “It doesn’t matter now.”

“Yeah.” Rigg agreed. He had a feeling it did, though.

“Big game coming up.”

“Yeah.”

“Your first one.”

“Yeah.”

There was a pause, and Mark’s tone was suddenly harsh again. “So get off your ass and go over the plans. I’ll be back in a few hours.”

Rigg shrugged, but did as his partner said. He knew what Mark would be doing for the next few hours.

He was right. This was going to be a big game.


	3. Feel What I Feel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set post-SAW VI. Rigg just wants to help, but Hoffman is stubborn as ever.

“What the hell happened to you?” Rigg demanded.

Hoffman had stumbled into their hideout, clutching his gore-caked face and grumbling like an injured bear, carrying the trap it had been caught in. He answered the question between pained gasps, winced with every syllable.

“Jill… fucking... Tuck.”

“Jill did this?” It was almost difficult to believe. Rigg approached, and reached for his partner’s mangled cheek instinctively. Hoffman growled and slapped his hands away. “You have to let me do _something_ about it, Mark.”

Hoffman turned away to begin ravaging drawers and cabinets without another word. He avoided Rigg’s gaze all the while, beyond pissed at Jill’s gall. He was the one who needed to be tested? _That_ was John’s will? Jill knew nothing about Jigsaw’s work. She had abandoned him, for fucks sake, and now John was abandoning Hoffman from beyond the grave. John was going to pay. _Jill_ was going to pay, that stupid bitch. Mark would make her pay, make her suffer. Make her --

“Hey.”

 _“_ _What?”_ Snapped Hoffman, regretting it as he felt his wounds open further.

“Sit the fuck down. The medkit is over here.”

Hoffman slammed a drawer shut, doing his best to walk in a straight line towards the chair Rigg had pulled out. “I can do it myself.”

“No you can’t, Mark. Come on.” Rigg pulled another chair from under a desk, sitting so he was facing Hoffman to get a better look.

“I can. Get me a fucking mirror.” At a loss for what to actually do now that he had gotten this far, Rigg retrieved a hand mirror from nearby and allowed Hoffman to snatch it from him.

“Maybe we should call Dr, Gordon,” Rigg suggested, “And don’t talk, you’ll hurt yourself.”

Mark moved the mirror to glare at him, resigned to mocking him silently - _‘Maybe we should call Dr. Gordon!’_

“I know you don’t like the guy. All I’m saying, I don’t want you to blame me when it gets infected.”

Hoffman grumbled a bit and flipped open the medkit on Rigg’s lap. _It won’t get infected. Amanda knew about this shit._ Fucking Amanda. He almost missed her now, even though she would have gladly watched him die only half an hour earlier. Rigg watched as tears gathered in Mark’s angry eyes. He didn’t say anything, but he could see years of regret behind the tears. Of course, Hoffman didn’t dare look up at him.

Wordlessly, Hoffman mended his own face with a needle and thread. When he was done, and his eyes were somehow dry, he gazed thoughtfully in the direction of the reverse bear traps. _Poetic justice,_ He thought.

Not for the first time, Rigg knew what Hoffman would be doing for the next few hours.


	4. The rules were clear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set at the end of SAW VII.

“You didn’t even give her a chance.”

“She had her chance.”

“No, Mark, you know that’s not --”

“She had her fucking chance.”

Rigg, like many times before, shut his mouth before he provoked Hoffman any further. Jill didn’t have any chance at all, though. _Live or die._ Hoffman had gladly made that choice for her.

He looked on as Hoffman began to dump gasoline along the floor of the hideout.

_‘_ _Citizens are being advised to report any activity, even remotely suspicious… a thirty mile radius...’_

“What the hell are you doing?” But he knew.

_’_ _What will be considered the largest attack… Mark Hoffman...’_

Hoffman flipped open the lighter in his hand, “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”


End file.
